Miss Saigon - Sheffield Crucible

Ok, I'll get my thoughts down while they're fresh. Keep in mind I'm very attached to the original staging and so will be biased but I've tried to be fair.
The opening has a guy (possibly meant to be older Tam?) walk towards the TV, then the little Tam runs around and it fades into the proper opening. Seemed unnecessary but harmless.
The bar scene was very underwhelming... The girls costumes looked quite cheap and were obviously chosen to cover up more than in traditional productions. Gigi had a crop top and shorts for example. The girls don't really dance around or interact as much with the soldiers, so the energy is all coming from the guys and the girls were just there. Obviously deliberately toned down but it loses a lot for it.
Kim no longer says her age (which is funny as Jessica is the first I've seen in a while to look passably 17). It's now John who 'likes it rough' as the engineer defends Gigi.
Other sanitised bits are various lyric changes to change whore to girl, etc. No gunshot for Thuy and he doesn't fall down so it's not clear he's dead.
I Still Believe is staged with Ellen and Chris in a supermarket which is a bit weird.
There's no entr'acte which was disappointing.
Bui Doi staging was inspired IMO, it starts with John singing in some kind of group therapy, then moves to him handing out leaflets on the street, finishing up with him presenting to a group as per the original staging.
There's no helicopter beyond a shadow projection but they go up the staircase and then Chris exits via a rope ladder into the roof as Kim reaches the top and they reach for each other. I found that quite moving.
Ellen's song is still Maybe and the god awful stilted dialogue before it is gone.
The American Dream has Joanna dressed as Marilyn Monroe and it worked fairly well. Her voice was sensational at the end of this and it got a big response.
Finale had Kim singing her last lines as a ghost while Chris seemed to be sobbing over an invisible dead body, but at least there was a (very quiet) gunshot so we knew something had happened.

Overall there were a few changes I thought worked well but for the most part for me and my friends it felt as though the essence had been sucked out. The minimal staging wasn't the problem, the completely ruthless santising was. It felt as though it had been directed with absolute fear of the slightest criticism. The story should be raw and brutal sometimes, this felt like a demonstration of what happens to shows when you're too scared to upset anyone.

The biggest strong point they have is the cast. Jessica is absolutely stunning as Kim. I haven't liked a Kim this much in a long time (Eva left me cold I'm afraid). Wonderful and possibly worth going for her alone.
I'm going to guess now that Christian won't be popular here but I loved him so I'll get my praise in now before I'm shouted down. Age appropriate, a really good actor, he brought something new to the character and was completely believable and had great chemistry with Jessica. I had a huge smile on my face for LNOTW. He lacks power vocally though and although I found his voice gorgeous in places, I know many will be disappointed in his lack of beltiness. I wonder if he was tired vocally as he went raspy a lot in act two.
I really enjoyed the Thuy and John, and Shanay as Ellen was solid but didn't quite do it for me. I appreciated her also being cast younger though.
Lastly, Joanna. She's obviously a fantastic performer, she acted and sung the role incredibly well. But it didn't feel like the engineer and it for me felt like a clear shoehorning in places. Her character would be sensational in another show, but it doesn't sit right for me. Also the humour was almost entirely gone and it really needs that from the engineer.

I'll go with three stars I think - mostly because of the score and cast. The production isn't it for me but I'm fascinated to hear what others think!

I wonder if the sanitisation was in response to the earlier criticisms directed at The Crucible or was always the director’s vision for this.

What about the Bangkok scene? Is that sanitised too?

Bangkok scene also sanitised in that there wasn't anyone (male or female) dancing that I remember, though this was less glaring because the focus was on the club owners and engineer.

Orchestrations - nothing stood out to me as different other than the missing entr'acte but I'm not the best at picking up on that so hopefully someone with better ears than mine can report back. The orchestra was up high behind the silver wall but you don't see them until bows (and only the MD then).

I will say I think the direction of the performers was actually really good, in that they seemed like real people and the actors brought out things in their characters I've never seen before.
The direction of the production itself however just stifled it. This isn't the show that was written.

Edit: sorry, the TV was only used for the very opening scene where someone (older Tam??) stares at it briefly. Then in the finale Tam is watching it as Kim sings her song.

I also went to see this last night.

I didn’t like any aspect of it as a production, unfortunately. It’s a confused production, and oddly lacking in soul. I’ve seen the word sanitised used above, which is absolutely spot on. It feels like it is treading on eggshells and for all the changes, I can’t think of one aspect which was actually improved from prior productions.

On the train home, I was slightly more positive than the rest of my party of four. I am not precious about updating classic shows for modern sensibilities, provided there is a clear and defined vision for the piece. This production in my view sadly fails on this and most other levels, feeling insincere and cold. Last night I was leaning more towards 2*, but having slept on it I think it’s more of a 1* production. I’ve seen some terrific new productions over the years in Sheffield (such as a superb My Fair Lady) but this is not one of them.

Finally, I’m not one for debating social politics, least of all in theatre. That said, it would be a terrible shame for theatre to lose its ambition and edge by polishing every rough edge. Not everything in theatre, as in life, needs to be glossy, saccharine and double dipped in sugar. We don’t want to get to a stage where every single moment of every production is workshopped, focus group tested and made “SFT” (Safe for Twitter) for fear of offending someone, somewhere.

Oh and the cast were fine.

Thanks toomasj, another really interesting review. 

Similarly not remotely precious about updating but totally agree you need a clear and defined vision. Parts in bold kinda summarise how I feel about the Aspects of Love revival. This was also sanitised and there wasn't actually a single aspect improved. And it's also treading on eggshells. IMHO you need to stick to the original or really go for a creative and daring re-imagining. One doesn't simply want a watered/dumbed down original....

Anyway, of course on Saigon I'll reserve judgement until I've seen it. For Sunset I pray that it will indeed be creative and daring (given the apparent evidence it won't be like the original).

Still, it's great to have all these mega musicals still being performed in some format :-) 

It sounds more like victimization of the women then, like they can't do or want anything, they are just a victim of the bad men. Come on girl, it's ok, it's just the bad, bad John, who likes it rough. You are just a helpless female, who didn't want anything, don't have an opinion, didn't try to seduce him, and the engineer makes sure, that she and Gigi protect this victimhood. I don't know what was wrong with portraying Gigi as a real person in the first version.

Also, the strength and beauty of this show has always been that it is not about good or bad people. It's about everyone being a victim of war. Where all characters make choices. Choices that are based on fighting for what they want, for a better life, on survival, not on what is the most politically correct, wholesome or protective.

Which makes you really think about both sides of every story, because some GI's fell victim to some of these ladies too. Who made choices for dreams or survival, which did not come from a bad place. Both wanting to believe something that might not have been really there. The producer and director of this version have no respect for the show. Portraying the women as victims and the men as bullies is not what this show is about. It's about the opposite. About full characters. I can't stand the polarizing view this version imposes.

Much appreciated @tallpaul, thanks for this info. 

I've checked my campervan and fortunately, there is no charge for me but I'd have been in a panic had I not known and checked in advance!
Noted re. Arundel Gate and I shall try to avoid (hopefully Google maps won't try and send me that way!). I've street-viewed my way around Sheffield and found car parks at Fitzwilliam Street and Carver Lane which appear not to have height barriers, so all will hopefully be OK.

I'm now avoiding all of the reviews until after I've seen it on Saturday but will be back with my thoughts after then 

Trouble is, Saigon is in danger of being written off as Aspects was by, I think, The Stage, and a couple of other outlets that they don't need to be revived because they have no place in 2023.

That is the attitude among many influential people these days, it seems....

Just wondering - did 7 people on here actually see this on Saturday evening or do some people vote in these polls without seeing the show!?

Thanks! Yes, I see what they were trying to do.

"Hey guys, it's ok, the bad John can take it, because he likes it rough. Gigi can't do anything wrong, whatever she does, the man should take it"

Making the men subordinate to women because that's woke nowadays. Women either in power at all times or helpless victims who can't be blamed. The idea of the old script (and reality) is clearly so scary for woke people that now the script has to lower the men to give gigi power, so that audiences know that she is in power at all times, and when she is not, it's because of bad men. Can blame men for anything, but women can't be blamed for anything. The need for completely flipping the script in this scene is bizarre.

And I find it worrying. Because this also results in a fairytale in which no woman is ever treated poorly, ever. And women can't be blamed for anything, ever. Completely detached from reality. And it portrays women with such a protective view and a feigned inviolability and lack of responsibility that it is actually insulting and degrading women to merely victims who supposedly couldn't handle reality. And men to puppies whose only right to exist is feeding women's ego. I see this on almost every movie or play nowadays. I wonder if both men and women actually like this. The men and women I know actually don't.

Also, it is very weird for a club owner to decide for their clients what they should accept or find ok, without any responsibility of what their employee prostitute is doing to them.

Hopefully an audio will surface somewhere sometime. Thanks for sharing your experiences and views!

unsure if this is your opinion on a show, seems to have morphed into generalisations about women in contemporary culture... 

i think the important context here is that the GIs are an invading military force - surely that alters the power dynamic and the conversations around gender that exist in the piece. 

anyway, like most people on this forum, i've not seen it yet, so won't throw in two cents til i have.